Gwen, an apology

[galadriel1010]

A few of my friends recently have posted in their journals about the amount of anti-Gwen vitriol that they've seen, and wondering why there is so much.

So I, being me, replied, explained why I didn't like her and tried to join the discussion.

I didn't realise it was a rhetorical question. Nor did I realise that there's been a lot of anti-Gwen stuff around, because the fandom places I hang out in are Twitter and my flist. This does not cover any of the major non-fic communities or AGA. I had no idea it was going on. So when I saw stuff in my flist asking why people dislike Gwen... I thought they were honestly asking.

Being lonely, bored and procrastinating, I felt like answering it.

So, basically, I didn't know the context, and I apologise for joining in where I shouldn't have. Apparently the fandom is full of Gwen hate that people on my flist don't want to see. My flist is mostly full of people who like Gwen, and I keep feeling like I have to justify my dislike. I shouldn't feel like I have to, and I shouldn't try. So I'll stop.

ETA: I don't think most of the people I'm apologising to are actually friends with me, so they won't see this.

Comments

[fide-et-spe.livejournal.com]

Of course, gosh that was something I hadn't thought of. You are absolutely right. I was reading some of the stuff which prompted your post, and noticed people were saying "go and hang out at Torchwood decaf" and I had never heard of the comm, so I had a look, and it's a comm for anything that isn't Jack/Ianto. Which is fine of course, but clearly feeling the need to set up such a comm when there are general comms to post to shows that some people feel J/I is too dominant. It's kind of daft of course because it's canon, but there you go.

So yes it's OK to "bash" Ianto, or J/I as a pairing, because anything else feels like an oppressed minority. Also I agree that it's seen as politically incorrect to not like Gwen, so again it's therefore OK to be vitriolic about Ianto.

It's very funny to think there is a whole group of people who feel more politically correct supporting a straight pairing, and OK about hating a gay one..

Also I've noticed some fans posting that just because the fans on LJ like Ianto and J/I, that isn't the dominant view of the ordinary viewer. Well how on earth could they know that? Most of my friends watched TW, but I am the only fannish type. They hardly even register the character names, but all of them would talk about how much they loved "Jack's boyfriend, the bloke in the suit" and they referred to Gwen as "the shouty Welsh policewoman" Now some of them in fact really liked Gwen, but they all loved Jack and Ianto as a couple. I think the average viewer that stuck with it, generally liked the way the show went, or they would have switched off. I really doubt they were all out there thinking if only they would kill Ianto and leave just Jack and GWen, then I would enjoy this show.

[fiwen1010.livejournal.com]

I love the 'just because the majority on LJ like Jack/Ianto, that doesn't mean that everyone does'. I get to use words like 'statistically representative' and 'logical fallacy'.

As in, it is a logical fallacy to state that the high proportion of Jack/Ianto fans amongst engaged (LJ, forum and ff.net using) Torchwood fans is not likely to be statistically representative of non-engaging Torchwood fans and casual viewers.

[fide-et-spe.livejournal.com]

Yes absolutely, it is very basic common sense. In fact the most recent place I saw that stated was in the post you were referring to here. It was stated quite forcefully that it is simply not the case that Ianto is a favourite anywhere other than LJ. I have to admit I was floored by that comment. I didn't comment on the thread though, because I did only look at it after this post here, so it had all been a day or so before.

[fiwen1010.livejournal.com]

Don't be silly. Ianto is just so invasive that anyone who likes him is absolutely guaranteed to go online and talk about him, so everyone who likes him is represented online, whereas all the 'normal' people don't bother going online.